Ran out to visit Jordan at Union Speed and Style yesterday. Turns out it was his Birthday. Happy birthday mother f*cker! Jordan is fitting me for a custom vest. Sh*t is gonna be tough! Denim w/ golden brown stitch, green/tan flannel liner, and a short pop collar. While I was there I thought it a good time to get him in for a little garage feature session. Union Speed is tucked back on River street in Monticello. A little off the beaten path but for what he’s doing, its probably a good thing. This dude is so busy, he’d probably loose his sh*t if he were in the twin cities (distractions day in and day out).
Jordan and I don’t get many chances to hang out with us both being knee deep in running our respective shops. That said, I did get to rock down to Iowa with him lat weekend. His little XS has got some serious balls. Not surprising… his bike didnt miss a beat once the entire trip. His spot was packed with projects. Jordan dabbles in all sorts of stuff. He’s turning out custom tanks, frames, leather and denim, seats, etc. Come to think of it… he’s a bit of a one stop shop.
Union Speed works pretty steadily throughout the year and they even manage to make all the stops on the vendor circuit. I’m not even really sure exactly how many people make up Union Speed but from the work load, they probably some kind of small army.
The Union Speed Crew are definitely a younger bunch but they’re also talented well beyond their years. If you need some fabrication, without having to deal with the grumpy old heads in the scene, these are the dudes to hook up with. They’ve got the skills and creativity to blow minds. Check em out. UnionSpeedandStyle.com
St Patty’s day I headed to the House of the Temple of the Wolf. Between Zac, Dave and Gator, these dudes have attempted most every part combination you can think of. I usually save myself a lot of frustration by just hanging around, asking questions and gettin my learnin on. Met some cool people as always, had a couple beers and stared at a pant load of Magnetos. That shit is right on time. I gotta think about gettin me one.
Snapped a couple pics with the camera phone and when I got home and looked at them I realized I had the fixins for a pretty slick panoramic. Click the above image and check it out full size. Dig it!
You know you’re in for a treat when you pull into the swap parking lot and two dudes are carrying out 6ft of vintage springer together. Invader wheels, trike frames, old school king/queen seats with good leather, hardtails, and even a pretty good triumph presence to boot. Looks like all the good little boys and girls on the other side of the mountain will have lots of wonderful things to play with. Hooray! Thanks as always to Gringo and Mickey for putting it all together. Dig it.
I met CT a couple years back at the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show. To put it to you straight… CT is North East. He’s involved in a little bit of everything. CT was part of the the once mighty Track Stars. He’s a regular fixture at Blue Cat. He runs every year at the Salt Flats and CT is one of the guiding forces behind the Bearded Lady. He runs a lot of bikes and is real big into his vintage Italian and Japanese stuff. Especially his Suzuki 2-stroke triples.
CT spends his winters keeping busy in his garage. A couple cans of Hamms, crank the heater, a few touches here and there on the ratrod and the snow keeps falling. Eventually Bearded Lady plans start up as the snow and ice start to melt.
I asked a little more about how that (cycle show) whole thing got started. CT is always quick to pass off the success to his other partners in crime who lend a very large helping hand. In fact, he’s one of the most humble dudes I’ve ever met. “Truth is” he says, “the whole thing was sorta started out of spite.” Apparently, CT and some friends attended a few vintage Japanese bike show years back and unfortunately, the judges never quite knew how to judge their whips. It started to get pretty obvious that there were a lot of custom classics in the Twin Cities in need of an event where they could get a little appreciation. “Fuck it, I’m gonna start my own show for the kind of bikes that deserve it.”
Years later and here we are. The streets have to be shut down. Vendors and sponsors line up in advance and the permits need to be legit. The Lady has really taken on a life of its own. Everybody… and I mean EVERYBODY attends. See you there this July 23rd. Speed Club will be out with booth overhead and beer in hand as usual. Dig it. Thanks CT.
Jump ahead to 2 minutes when this dude goes for a ride with his completely brain dead buddy. These fellas are clearly having a fucking blast but they’re also probably dead now. Insane Motorcycle Dash Cam Footage – Watch more Funny Videos
The Union Speed Crew are definitely a younger bunch but they’re also talented well beyond their years. If you need some fabrication, without having to deal with the grumpy old heads in the scene, these are the dudes to hook up with. They’ve got the skills and creativity to blow minds. Check em out. UnionSpeedandStyle.com
Uncategorized | admin | 
June 16, 2011 11:56 am | 
Comments Off on Union Speed and Style – Garage Feature III 
